Mandirs - the laboratories of the past.Hindus did a lot of experimentation. Mandir was the laboratory at one time where people could go in and experiment with meditation, with mantra chanting and so on. Different mandirs were sites of different experiments and experiences. A shiva temple has a different discipline than that of the Dakshineswari temple in Calcutta. A Jaina temple has different locations (often on mountains-away from water) than a Vishwanath temple which is on the banks of Ganga. Some people claim that the Vishwnath temple we see is not the real Vishwanath temple. The real temple is kept hidden from the access of a commoner. As if it exists in a different dimension that is accessible only in certain states of meditative mind. The real Gangotri similarly is said to be accessible only by the travel of your astral body. The physical body cannot reach the real souce of Ganga.

Before we learn more about temples let us explore where science is heading today and what lies in store for future of Science. Man of today knows a lot about matter. He has amassed a lot of power, specially a destructive power. Unless a man knows himself all his knowledge lacks authenticity. In the hands of an ignorant man nothing can be creative, but even ignorance can become a creative tool in the hands of a knowledgeable one. If a man can understand himself, can master himself, only then will his other achievements have real merit. Unless this happens he is simply digging his own grave.

That's what we are doing. We are digging our own graves. Previous civilizations were destroyed by external attack; ours is threatened by a great internal danger. If the civilization of the twentieth century is annihilated, it will be by suicide. This is what we will have to call it, if there is anyone left to call it anything. It is possible this final war may never be written into human history. It will take place outside history's ken, because it will destroy all of humanity. Those who came before us made history, we are preparing to unmake it.

We are in control of infinite material power, but we know nothing of the depths of the human heart, we know nothing of the poison and the nectar that lies hidden there, side by side. We know the atomic structure of matter but nothing of the atomic structure of the soul. And this is our great misfortune. We have achieved power, but no peace, no enlightenment.

There is great power in the hands of the unenlightened, of the unawakened. But these are the people who should not be allowed to possess power; if it is misused, power can wreak great evil. Our whole search has been for power. And this is man's mistake. He is in danger from his own achievements, from his own successes. The world's great thinkers and scientists should be made aware of the pitfalls of this preoccupation with the question of power. It is just this sort of blind, thoughtless investigation that has brought us to the brink of the present crisis. The aim should be peace, not power. And if the aim becomes peace, then the focus will be on the mystery of man himself, not into the secrets of nature. There has been much research and exploration into unconscious matter, but the time has come when we must concentrate on man himself, on his mind.

The science of the future will include the science of consciousness, and will not be limited to the science of matter. This change musts occur before it is too late. Those scientists who are committed to the investigation of the inanimate are orthodox men, with minds bound by tradition and convention. Men of awareness must come forth to alter the direction of scientific research. Science must strive for knowledge of man himself. In their efforts to master the material world modern scientists have attained results unprecedented in human history; there is no reason they cannot be equally successful in achieving the same insight into man. Man can be known. He can be mastered; he can be transformed. I see no reason to be discouraged. We can come to know ourselves, and on this knowledge we can build a totally new consciousness.

This has been the science that Hindus worked on. Places were developed which could be used as center of peace. You could pass by a temple and feel the energy of peace. Peace and calmness dawns on you. It was easy for a person to go into meditation inside a temple. There was a time when the Mandirs were alive and the keys were known to fit the locks, one knew how to use the temple. All the mantras have no literal meaning but they have a pragmatic value and we used to make our children absorb them at a very early age. They would learn the use of the temple without ever even being aware of what they had learnt. They would learn the art of entering the temple, how to sit there and how to make use of the sacred precincts. Whenever there was an emergency or any difficulties, people would run to the temple and then return home having regained a sense of balance and tranquillity. Each morning they would go to the temple, where else. But all of these were not taught to them - they incorporated it at a very early stage in childhood.

At the entrance of the temple we find big bells or gongs. You enter the temple and ring the bell. The sound of the bell is close to the sound of Om. Moreover, if you are chanting a mantra and your mind is wandering, a bang on the bell wakes you up, centers you on the mantra. You enter the temple. You are going up the steps and your mind is in the marketplace, you enter the temple and before you enter you ring the bell. It brings your total being to the temple. The sound of the bell along with your centering and that of other beings creates an atmosphere which sets out the waves of peace and tranquillity. And this going on years after years, Concentration of the energy, what more can you ask for.

The dome of the temple is a mini sky. If you chant a mantra in the open sky, your mantra may escape easily away from you. The dome of the temple creates reverberations of the mantra. The effect is compounded. Several other people chanting mantras there. A place for experimenting. A place for going deeper inside yourself.

Temples have small doors specially for the main center. Did the people who designed temples did not know about cleanliness. How can you keep the area aerated. They knew and developed other methods. They worked on alchemy. These are the same people who have performed the ultimate alchemy by getting Ganga to flow. Ganga water is no ordinary water. Similarly they found that the mantras have a cleansing effect. That is how these temples stayed clean for thousands of years. They kept the center of the temple with small doors to preserve the energy which has been focused there from different experiments.

One of them is the prana pratistha. The statues in side temples are not just pieces of rocks. With special mantras there have been invocation and institution of life energy in them. The light in a temple comes from ghee lamps. The quality of light and its effects on the eyes coming from a kerosene oil, perhaps more economical, is not the same as that emanating from a ghee lamp. Try doing a tratak dhyan on a kerosene lamp and then on a ghee lamp. The soothing effects of the ghee lamp is obvious. Similarly, a sandal paste on the forehead (near the third eye) has not only a cooling effect but also a balmy effect. All these things were not just accidents. They have been the work of many people over a period of time to get to the mature stage of usage.

Many of the samskaras (sacraments) are performed in Mandirs. Sometimes, a mother or a father makes a vow of visiting a temple if certain desired result is obtained. Our whole life at one time centered around temples. If you are happy you go to the temple. If you are sad you do the same. It is our duty to find out the details of how we can re-energize and rediscover the mysteries and science of the temples. Why do we have 12 jyotirlingas. Why Ujjain is the tantric city. There are many such issues which we have to focus on. Research is needed in this area and it is a challenge for us to take upon this task.